The Haganah’s Shai (Sherut Yediot, or Intelligence Service) was the pre-state Jewish community’s intelligence organization. On June 30, 1948, amid the War of Independence, Shai was dismantled and the new state’s intelligence services were established. The Shin Bet traces its institutional origin to that reorganization, while military and foreign intelligence developed in separate bodies.
The Israel Defense Establishment Archives holds extensive Shai records, including material from its Arab Department. The archive’s description documents Shai as a Haganah organization and provides an entry point to its surviving records.
Why was Shai reorganized?
Statehood changed the task from serving a pre-state defense organization to supporting governmental institutions with distinct domestic, military and foreign responsibilities. Rather than continue one organization under the Haganah, Israel’s leaders divided intelligence functions among new services. On June 30, 1948, the Haganah command structure was being replaced by state institutions; the IDF itself had been established in May.
The Shin Bet’s name comes from the Hebrew initials of Sherut Bitachon Klali, commonly rendered General Security Service. “Shabak” is another transliteration of those initials; “Shin Bet” names the two Hebrew letters. Its modern statutory mandate appears in the General Security Service Law of 2002.
What the record establishes
The Shin Bet’s own historical account dates the reorganization to June 30, 1948. The Defense Ministry’s Haganah Archive confirms the documentary legacy of Shai and its departments. Those records support the institutional link without requiring claims about later internal structures that remain classified.
For the agency’s present legal role, see what the Shin Bet does and who oversees it.